The insanity is actually normal.  People spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation fees to free themselves from a lifetime of paying spousal support.

Would you not think it wise to at least offer the supported spouse a lump sum buyout of support?  Would it not be better for the spouse to plan an independent life for herself doing her own investments and building her own career?

In the current and conventional ways of divorce litigation insanity, neither of the divorcing spouses are ever free.

They want to divorce to get what?  The awesomeness of freedom.  But what happens in divorce litigation they get entrapped and consumed by the competition of the legal system.

Here is what I mean.  How free is the spouse who needs the support really?  Imagine the payee spouse trapped in the competition of getting as much support as she can.  How ambitious will she be to be self-supportive?

Which one is more limited to you?  A life of keeping the status quo and showing a little effort to get a job but maintain the need to get support?  Or  A life of pursuit of building a career and seeing what you can accomplish?  

Furthermore, how likely will she get remarried when it would stop the spousal support income?

And the Supporting payor spouse cringes every month that he has to pay spousal support because he feels there is no end and feels trapped under the obligation.

Here is a real case:  Husband and Wife were married for over 34 years.  They get a divorce.  Husband pays Wife for half of the value of the business and Husband pays spousal support from his business income for about ten years.  When the Husband is 65 years old, he hires lawyers to ask the court to terminate spousal support.  He said he is entitled to retire after age 65 and he gives his business to his new wife.  His new wife runs the business.

Court orders that even though Husband retired and is not running the business anymore.  Husband still has to pay the spousal support because the court considered the transfer of bad faith.  The court explains that it does not mean that the new wife is supporting the former wife.

Competition leads to lose-lose.

Collaborative leads to win-win.